India hammered Pakistan in their T20 World Cup 2026 clash at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Pakistan captain Salman Agha was delighted to bowl first after winning the toss, analysing that the conditions would favour the spinners. Suryakumar Yadav, on the other hand, remained unfazed. He claimed that the team would have batted first anyway before announcing Abhishek Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav as the two changes.
Returning to the playing XI, Abhishek failed to establish his authority, scoring his fourth duck in the last six matches. Even though India lost an early wicket, it didn’t bother Ishan Kishan, who went on to play one of the most iconic knocks. He made 77 runs off 40 balls, which is the fourth-highest score by an individual in an India-Pakistan clash.
Courtesy of his blistering knock, the platform was set for India to go well beyond 200 but the Pakistan players pulled the strings back. They dominated the middle phase as the likes of Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav struggled to keep up with the pace. However, they didn’t lose wickets and managed to keep the scoreboard ticking, which was a positive sight.
Towards the end, Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh provided some handy cameos as India posted 175 runs on the board. Saim Ayub was the star with the ball for Pakistan, claiming three wickets. There was tremendous hype about Usman Tariq and he did a decent job, picking up one wicket for 24 runs in his four overs.
Fault in Pakistan’s stars
Babar Azam - seven runs off five balls, Salman Agha - four runs off four balls, Shadab Khan - 14 runs off 115 balls and Shaheen Afridi conceded 31 runs in just two overs. They are the stars Pakistan claim to have but in reality, they are simply not good enough for T20I cricket. Chasing 176 runs, the Men in Green were expected to put up some kind of grit but they couldn’t threaten the Indian bowlers.
Usman Khan showed glimpses of his class, scoring 44 runs off 34 balls but that was never going to be enough. Jasprit Bumrah’s double whammy set India’s tone with the ball and the other bowlers carried on with the momentum, helping India seal a 61-run win. With that, the Men in Blue now set the record for the biggest win over Pakistan in T20I cricket and also qualify for the Super 8 of the World Cup.
